A Little More West
by ToManyLetters
Summary: New evidence had come forward relating to the Marlon West case; he is freed of all charges and released from prison, where he is greeted by the sister that betrayed him. AU


* * *

A Little More West  
A_ CSI: Crime Scene Investigation_ Fan Fiction

* * *

Chapter One - Freedom

* * *

Marlon sat up, popping his neck as he heard the door to his cell slide open. His eyes met those of the guard whose hand released the bars only to usher him forward. He felt himself rising to his feet as he'd done on countless occasions, each after the dozens of times he'd been escorted here or there by an increasingly irritable member of the law enforcement.

The trial had gone well. It had been the second he'd had in only two years, as well as the second he'd been exonerated from. New evidence had been brought forward, clearing his name and incriminating another. Hannah too had escaped conviction and was as free as he wished he had been the last five months. He knew that it had been her that killed Kira, she'd taken his revenge a little too far.

He knew Hannah felt more for him than she ought to as a sister. Her warped reasoning for not admitting her guilt to the authorities was simple and perfect in her own mind. "Because I love you," she had said.

It was true, she loved him. He'd known it for nearly a year. She'd been reacting negatively toward any female presence in his life that was not her own; she was possessive of him in the most extreme sense of the word. She had _killed _his ex-girlfriend out of jealousy as well as the bitterness she'd felt that Kira had hurt her brother – the one man she loved, the one man that could love her, but in the way she wanted? He wasn't sure. He'd told himself _no, _but something in him, some feeling kept astir.

Hannah had kept true to her word. She always had, as far as he could remember. She visited him at least once each week, more when she could manage it. He could see the light in her eyes dimming with each visit, the desperation to have him at her side as a constant companion once again tore at her more with each passing day.

She was less and less her self, he noticed. He could feel her desire to confess, but she held on, kept quiet, much to both of their dismays. He'd seen her face at the trial, it was the same emotionally devoid and cold face he'd given her when he wore the wire in his cell, on occasion daring to slip a hint of sorrow and concern.

He stopped; the guard paused to open the door to the free world. He knew the drill, he followed, close-mouthed and silent behind the man till they met Hannah at the desk for claims. He didn't know whether to embrace her or scorn her; instead he just stared at her, her brown eyes met and locked with his, pleading her apology.

He turned away, taking a few short steps toward claims, stepping sideways some to avoid coming within close range of his sister. He was hurting from what she had done to him and he wanted her to know, whatever her reasons for doing it were. Visiting once a week wasn't enough to make it all go away, no matter what justifications her brilliant mind could come up with.

He could sense her opening her mouth to speak, but no words came. Instead the same heartbreaking, mind-numbing silence he'd become accustomed to during his _stays _in the wretched place. The man at the desk mumbled something to him he could not hear and pushed a clipboard forward for him to sign, coupled with a pen tied by beaded string.

He felt a small hand touch his arm just below his shoulder, his heart gave a pang as he recognised it as his sister's. He knew the way she felt, every bit of her. They'd cried one with another to sleep for weeks after their parents' deaths. Marlon turned only slightly to look at her face; she was crying. His little sister, guilty of two murders by his count, was crying over her brother. What _she_ had done to her brother, Marlon reminded himself.

The little turn was all it took her Hannah to take full advantage of the angle, all she needed to wrap her small arms around his body in so tight an embrace such as he had never before experienced in his life. He could feel her small body quaking with sobs; her face was pressed tightly against his chest. Not even the bitterness within him could bare to see her like this any longer; he allowed his own arms to wrap around her and return the gesture.

Her hair. Oh, how he'd missed the smell of her hair. Everything about her, he soon noticed, he'd missed for all these months and he could have it all back if he could just forgive her. So simple a thing when said so simply, but, in action, more painfully complex and difficult than any human mind, hers included, could fathom.

"Marlon West?" asked the man at the claims desk. His response was a curt nod. "Here are your things," the man handed him his clothes. "You're free to go."

He unzipped the orange jumper he was wearing, ignoring the fact that two guards and his sister stood beside him; something about being locked away for several months numbs one's sense of privacy. He allowed the suit to pool at his feet and slid his old, now unfamiliar, shirt over her head and down his torso.

"Marlon," came a whisper as he fastened his jeans. Hannah. She'd finally managed to speak; though only a single word, his name, it was perhaps the most powerful word she could utter. "I meant what I said."

And he knew she did.

* * *

**Author's Note**: My first _CSI: Crime Scene Investigation_ fan fiction. but I hope you enjoyed nonetheless. To see more of Hannah and Marlon West watch the _CSI: Crime Scene Investigation_ episodes "The Unusual Suspect" (season six, episode eighteen) and "Goodbye and Good Luck" (season eight, episode seven). Please review.


End file.
